Before I answer this question, I wanted to take the time to dedicate this blog to a dear friend that passed away on Tuesday October 13th, 2009, a devoted wife and mother of two incredible boys. Thank you for being an important figure in my life, I will miss you immensely but most of all I will always love you.
My name is Alejandro Reyes, my close friends call me Alex, I'm a filmmaker and marathon runner. I'll start by telling you how this all came to be and what my plans are for the future. From a personal, and professional level, this is my story.
Despite all the things I have gained, what I still enjoy the most about running is simply being able to watch the sunrise overlooking Lake Michigan, and in the distance watching how the city wakes up. If your a native Chicagoan, like me, and always on the go, you tend to forget how beautiful the city is. Like in any large urban setting, everyone is busy focused on their daily survival and getting ahead. I am also a avid practitioner of yoga, which helps me meditate so that I can channel that energy into something positive as I accomplish doing postures with fluidity, and devotion like I do running those long miles each week.
My fascination with running started last year when I saw my siblings, cross the finish line of what was then called the "Chicago Distance Classic", recently renamed the "Rock And Roll Half Marathon". I remember feeling left out and wanting to be a part of that triumphant moment. Don't get me wrong, it also felt good to support them through that amazing accomplishment. After all, they had all completed the half marathon in great time, two to two and a half hours each. After congratulating them I said to myself - I'll run it with them next year.
When that chance came the three decided to train for the "Chicago Marathon". When they revealed this information to me I wasn't sure that I was willing to take that route since I was only just starting, but I agreed to try and was put in a running group, I trained for three months with the marathoners lead by my sister's fiancé, an experienced marathon runner. My regiment was simple: three short runs during the week and one long one on Saturday. On Sundays I would spend time recuperating, by doing yoga at my friend's studio. In addition to running near the lake front or in my neighborhood, yoga also allowed me to reflect, strengthen my resolve and relieve stress, I stretched out any tight muscles and relaxed –I also found it to be a form of therapy.
After weeks of training I decided to sign up for the "Rock And Roll Half Marathon". When my older brother realized I was going ahead with it he decided to participate with me to make sure I did it, he knew it would be motivational for future runs. Just one week before the race I sustained a minor injury and a slight, yet sharp pain on my right knee. Luckily, it was nothing to serious that would prevent me from competing. I thought if matters get worse, I would run through the pain. My brother said that I would be okay and not to worry about it, once this race was over I could rest. If not depending on how I felt afterwards I could continue training for the full marathon. By this time I was running peak at 15 mi. so 26.2 felt like the ultimate challenge of my own human ability, but like my brother said I have to complete 13.1 miles first. As the following week approached the pain was gone and I was finally ready. I got so excited the night before that I called everyone and told them to come out and support me.
On August 1st, 2009 my brother and I were placed in different corrals, nontheless running in the same race. The other great thing about it was that we were going to run along side one another. The last time we did anything together was during my freshman and sophomore year in college, when he acted in my short films. I attended Columbia College, from which I received a B.A. degree in fine arts. During my time there I was focusing on becoming a film director, and after leaving school and Chicago things did not go my way.
I ended up moving to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003 after graduating to help my brother run his new business. With no money and no job I decided and thought it was the right move to make. This meant that I had to leave my dreams on the back burner. Just until I could sort out my financial problems which I thought were preventing me from persuing my career choice.
During my time in the South I was confused, miserable and felt defeated. I could never explain to anyone that what I had as a reel or portfolio wasn't good enough and therefore I thought that it would be impossible for anyone to take me seriously.
After four years I decided to come back to Chicago and help out a friend from College with his company. After just a few weeks I realized that it wasn't going to be easy to get back into the swing of things. The hardest part was getting clients to sign on to a project with you. Since I really didn't have any material to show there was no way that any one was going to give me a chance.
After a few failed projects and no real income coming in with my friend's company, I decided to change my ways for the better and the only way to do that was to not do anything involving filmmaking for awhile. At least just until I could find a way to get the creative juices flowing again. So it began with yoga, and eventually lead to running the half marathon.
When the horn blew in my first race the first thing that I noticed even before the crowd was the sound of the of feet hitting the concrete. It's like a charge of gladiators running into battle, and as great as watching the Mexican National soccer team walk onto a field in the world cup. While I was running I took the time to clear my head of everything and thought only positive thoughts, and reflecting only on what I have done thus far. By this time I felt everything was going great for me. I was feeling healthier than ever and, I was developing feelings for someone I've always loved who unfortunately couldn't be there but I knew she would be in spirit so long as I texted her. I remember doing that crazy stunt on mile five, six, 10, and the 10th kilometer. Towards the end, sadly enough as many great moments begin there are sometimes complications that follow. When I crossed the finish line my right knee gave out again but it didn't matter to me I wanted more!
After the "Rock and Roll Half Marathon" I felt ready to participate in the big one. Yes, "The 2009 Chicago Marathon". All though it was too late to register I was told that there were always participants who dropped out. With my knee still bad and not completely healed I wasn't even sure that I was going to be ready in time. Since I didn't have insurance I decided to take my mom's methods to heal faster by trying water soluble vitamins, amino acids and fiber, which actually did the trick.
It took me more then a month until I finally went back to the lake just to see how I felt. While everyone else did 20 miles I did 18. In the beginning my shins were hurting for two miles miles but I kept going, as my milage increased the pain was gone and that's how I knew I was back. When it was time to do 21 miles on the following week, I decided to leave the house at 5:00 A.M. to get a head start. My siblings who are faster runners than me wanted to leave at 6:00 A.M. In-spite of their insistence on leaving with them, they agreed that I should start first to avoid having to wait for me. When I got to the lake it was dark and cold still I kept my focus on what I was doing. As the sun was rising I came up with a lot of enlightening moments, one of which was coming up with a name for my own production company, and the other one was to eliminate the words "can't" and "regret" from my vocabulary. My siblings still finished earlier then I did but it didn't matter, I was ready, and luckily enough I had a number that was given to me for $30, on the weekend of the marathon, just in the nick of time.
On October 11th, I had not been this excited since the time I directed my first first music video back in 2003. The weather that day was 27 degrees fahrenheit, this is what my sister's fiancé called the perfect running weather. As the hours progressed the temperature rose to 48 degrees. As we got closer to that start line we wished each other good luck and hugged, then the horn blew again.
For a while I was close to them and until they left me behind on mile five or six. At that point neither the time nor cold mattered to me anymore; I was running my own race. This felt much more personal then the half marathon, because there were certain moments in the race that felt euphoric. As I ran through the different neighborhoods I relived certain moments of my life. Some were good and bad, they were all culminated and at the same time vanished like smoke from a chimney dissipating into the atmosphere. Then I realized what someone special told me all along, I started, "to let go". "Let go", of things that bothered me about the past and focus on what I can do now to correct those mistakes that hinder my progress.
On mile 15 I saw certain people whom I knew from the running group, cheering me on. I was beginning to feel a whole mixture of emotions come out as I struggled. Before I know knew it I finally came towards the corner of Ashland and 18th, when I pulled out my mexican flag and the crowed went wild.
When I finally hit mile 25 I started to pick up the pace. Just as I was getting close to the end I heard the voice of my father. When I ran towards him I was in tears once again, because this man had never gone to any of the sporting events that his children were involved in. So just the fact that he was there meant something, but to hear him say that he was proud of me meant everything and it kept me going. After I let him go I said that I would see them at the finish line.
When I eventually did cross the finish line I felt my whole life had unfolded to that point in time and it was one of the high points of my life. This was one of the reasons why I turned to yoga and running, because it was a way to find out if my life meant something and most importantly to find closure and defeat all my demons. I realized that I have the ability to do what I want, so as of today the next goal for me is to qualify for the "Boston Marathon" and drop at least 70 lbs. of the 241 lbs. I currently weigh. Next year I will run The Chicago Marathon again and attempt to knock out 3 hrs. and 10 min. off my record which was 6 hrs. 31 min 57 sec. for this year.
I will also be shooting a feature length documentary for this whole year. The purpose of this blog is to give you updates of my progress and to get motivational pep talks from all of you. Furthermore, I will include a short promo of how I will attempt this task. What I want to gain out of this experience is to motivate others to combat the obesity problem in this country and to help inspire people to build there own self-esteem. If I accomplish this I will know that I have done my job. So until then keep reading my blog, and enjoy everything and everyone that surrounds you each day.
